REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesian Sangha Supreme Council asked Myanmar's monks to stop violence in Myanmar. Chairman of Sangha Supreme Council, Nyanasuryanadi Mahthera expressed his profound grief over humanitarian crisis on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine last summer.
"We condemned the involvement of many Buddhist monks in Myanmar with their various acts of violence that resulted in death, material damages and large-scale displacement in Myanmar," Mahthera said on Monday. He also appealed the monks returned to the Buddha's teachings, Dharma and Vinaya which mentioned any violance and hatred were incompatible to the Buddha's teachings.
Mahthera explained both Buddha and Islam taught people about the values of peace and tolerance. "Inter-religious harmony in Indonesia for example, had a long and deeply histories that rooted to Indonesian culture," he said. He hoped the religious and civil society leaders in Myanmar could encourage cross-community and cross-religion dialogues to scrape many concerns and suspicions among community.